Fable is a literary genre. A fable is a succinct fictional story, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities such as verbal communication), and that illustrates or leads to an interpretation of a moral lesson (a “moral”), which may at the end be added explicitly in a pithy maxim.

When one goes to Obaku temple in Kyoto he sees carved over the gate the words “The First Principle”.

The letters are unusually large, and those who appreciate calligraphy always admire them as being a mastepiece.

They were drawn by Kosen two hundred years ago.

When the master drew them he did so on paper, from which the workmen made the large carving in wood.

As Kosen sketched the letters a bold pupil was with him who had made several gallons of ink for the calligraphy and who never failed to criticise his master’s work.

“That is not good,” he told Kosen after his first effort.

“How is this one?”

“Poor. Worse than before,” pronounced the pupil.

Kosen patiently wrote one sheet after another until eighty-four First Principles had accumulated, still without the approval of the pupil.

Then when the young man stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen thought: “Now this is my chance to escape his keen eye,” and he wrote hurriedly, with a mind free from distraction: “The First Principle.”

In his heart lived the desire of perfectioning himself. One dawn, when the crickets started to break the silence of the late afternoon, he traveled to a humble house in the mountains where a yogui dwelled and knocked on his door.

– Who is it? – asked the yogui

– It is me, respected master. I have come to seek spiritual guiding from you

– You are not prepared enough – answered the yogui without opening the door. Spend a year in a cave and meditate. Meditate without break. Then, come back and I will guide you.

In the begining, the student felt his heart sink, but since he was fully determined, he obeyed the yogui.

He found a cave in the base of the mountain and during a year he practiced deep meditation. He learned how to be with himself and Being.

When the monsoon arrived, he knew a year had past since he arrived to the cave. He left to meet again with the yogui and knocked at his door.

– Who is it? – asked the yogui-

– I am You – answered the student.

– If that is so -said the yogui – enter. There was no place in this house for two “I”s

The bee was flying in its busy work, going from flower to flower, doing what it had to do without questioning anything. The field provided all it needed for its joy and enjoy.

But a terrible drought hit the land. The plants and flowers no longer grew as they did before and the field became a desolated and lifeless barren.

The bee, not knowing what to do, went to ask for advice to a wise bird that lived close by.

“Dear Bird, tell me, Why do’nt I have flowers at will like I had before? I’m trying to understand what has happened and I can’t understand it”.

“Instead of trying to understand, try to pay attention, dear friend. Instead of asking why, thinking about what has happened, pay attention to what surrounds you and you will be able to act as needed, in this case, going to other more fertile lands.

Not all things are solved by thinking about them but observingwhat is happening. So stop thinking and act in whatever way you need to continue living”, said the Bird.

Sometimes, the absurd and inexplicable does not have a logical explanation we can understand. What is more important is that we pay attention to what is in front of you in order to find the best answer to what you need.

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